ØRESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE

"Faked It All The Way" opens with so many intricate sounds here that blip, pulse and ping, well you get the picture. It does settle back before 5 minutes and it becomes more spacey right to the end. "Consumed By The Goblin" features spacey synths along with cymbals and some guitar. It starts to build before 1 1/2 minutes as the drums join in. I like the Fender Rhodes after 4 minutes. We're just tripping at this point. The organ is welcomed after 6 1/2 minutes along with the guitar. The guitar starts to soar around 8 1/2 minutes then the organ returns 10 minutes in as the guitar stops. It calms down around 13 minutes and this continues to the end as we get spacey winds and more. "OSC Bolero" is by far my favourite. I'm so reminded of LE ORME of all bands right here. Those melancholic synths and that beat are amazing. This is darker overall as well. Great track!

"Falling Stardrops" is spacey with bass and cymbals then a beat eventually joins in. This is so relaxed and trippy. Spoken words arrive after 5 1/2 minutes and continue until almost 7 minutes in. Guitar to the fore then the electric piano joins in before 9 minutes. "Grab A Cab" has an almost Reggae beat to it with twittering electronics and guitar helping out. That Reggae vibe ends later on though. "Moonhead" is a short spacey tune with plenty of atmosphere. I really like this and wish it were longer. "Sundown" is the over 17 1/2 minute closer. I'm not the biggest fan of this as it is often fairly subdued. Picked guitar and spacey winds join the sparse intro. It's getting louder 4 minutes in and Fender Rhodes joins in around 5 1/2 minutes. It then turns quiet for some time with synths. It's the bass/ drum/ synth show for quite a while as the guitar comes and goes.

It's certainly worth the 4 stars but I seem to get a lot more out of ELECTRIC ORANGE these days. A great start to their careers though.

Thoughtful violin whispers may glide through the twenty minute opener of the first disc `The Ride to Valhalla', but it quickly reveals a crash of unceasing and frantic up-tempo drumming and heavy guitar blasts. `Juggle the Juice' is a welcome twisted psychedelic mind-spasm interlude, and calming synth breezes float around drifting ethereal sitar strains, drowsy bass, careful pattering drums and slow-burn electric guitar in the 30 minute `Digestive Raga', another one of their most mellow and laid-back sublime moments that purrs along on toasty vibes. `The Man from Wales' is a sexy wasted guitar and gorgeous organ plod, and `Bon Voyage' is a swirling vortex of experimental electronic twitches and mud-thick distorted bass with maddening building drums.

The two extended pieces that take up the 65 minute second disc reach even impossibly greater heights. The twenty-minute `Raga for Jerry G' is one of the dreamiest, most placid, even sweetest and carefully reflective pieces ever committed to disc by any variation of the ØSC, a soothing haze of weeping sitar strings, careful violin strains, gently blowing synth winds, electric piano ​glistenings and even drowsy country-flavoured slide guitar ruminations. The ambitious 45 minute album closer `20 Steps Towards the Invisible Door' heads closer to deep space madness again, Tangerine Dream-like sequencers and loops taking on a creeping and darker machine menace, harsher electric guitar drones and a breathless rumble of rising drumming. Scratchy violin slivers dance around bubbling synths and teases of eastern flavours before exploding into unhinged electric guitar wailing like a storm, with a final effective come-down the perfect way to ease back to Earth.

The ØSC have always delivered strong albums, but that true greatness they'd always had within their reach has finally been fully realised here. If you're already familiar with the group and the sort of eclectic space music its mostly revolving door of musicians and guests can deliver, then you already know the talent on display and the colourful works they deliver with every release. But if you're looking for an introduction to the band presenting some of their best ever material, then this would also make for an ideal title to explore from them first.

`Different Creatures' is a defining release for the Øresund Space Collective, one of the most varied, special and exciting space-rock/psych releases of the year, and simply one of the best overall progressive-related releases of 2015.

Five stars.

The first side of the LP houses two parts of a longer jam entitled `Walking on Clouds'. It's a showcase for Lars' endless guitar soloing, with his distinctive and varied tone often channelling the sound of David Gilmour from the late 60's/early 70's Pink Floyd live shows that can still be enjoyed on dozens of bootlegs (shhh, our secret!). These two parts plod along for twenty six minutes with only slight variations, with some fleeting tempo pick-ups here and there and back again with brief wilder, more muscular outbursts spontaneously catching fire. Rising and falling synth swells wash around slow-burn reverb-heavy electric guitar ruminations that gradually grow in power, a dusty and earthy quality permeating the atmosphere. There's also some Ozric Tentacles-styled bubbling synth ripples too, and the second part is even more mellow and dreamier, with plenty of placid drowsy guitar strums over swirling synth winds.

Side B's `Carlos on the Moon' is unusually emotional for the band, gently melancholic and quietly reflective guitar strains carrying the opening minutes on lifting fizzy washes of synths. Second guitarist Nicklas Sorensen solos next to Lars throughout this one, and as the piece progresses, their two instruments duel alongside each-other, weaving together to make sweet green smouldering alien love! Par Hallgren's bass murmurs thoughtfully throughout then simmers nicely as the piece builds in intensity, Kristoffer Brochmann's unceasing hypnotic drumming casts a lethargic spell and dirty grooves even threaten to take hold in the burning climax before cooling synth waves bring us back to Earth sedately. The shorter album closer `Neptune Rising' throttles with a thrashing energy, some manic, repetitive and aggressive guitar runs sounding like Hawkwind jamming with Steve Hillage. It's cool, but is clearly whittled down from a much longer jam, so is just a tiny bit of a missed opportunity.

Special mention must go to the lavish LP set, and fans will know that the vinyl editions should really be the preferred choice to purchase for this group. Once again the band have delivered the goods with a beautiful thick gatefold sleeve with mind-bending painted artwork throughout by Eetu Pellonpää. The LP also comes with a digital download copy, so space cadets can take a cosmic trip wherever they go!

The other ØSC albums released in 2013 - the compilations `Hamburg Concerts' and `Live at the Kildemose Festival 2008-10' - not to mention the steady stream of live recordings of full live concerts uploaded onto the Net to download for free from Dr Space himself probably offer more variety than this release, but for those who especially enjoy this type of music with a particular focus on guitars, `Organic Earthly Flotation' is still a tasty slice of improvised space-rock from one of the leading modern bands in the field.

Three stars - but guitar freaks can add a whole extra star!

Here Øresund Space Collective experiment with oblique structures of sound integrating them intricately. They approach the collaboration of sounds like a biologist analysing each organism of sound and meticulously weaving them into each other. The arrangements are multi layered yet highly collaborative sounds that excites the ears to no end. The prog approach of Øresund Space Collective is light to medium allowing more for the recognition of the space-rock aspect, yet the 'play' on its structuring keeps the listener well attached to their message. Though a mild push of prog, the collaborative method gives the impression toward an honest and true-to form loyalty of a more classic era.

Pushing familiarity of the past, sounds hinted with the ol' Hammond organ (Doors) conservatively layer the sound for that classic prog feel. Heavy echoing, overdrive and Wah-Wah peddling guitars (Iron Butterfly) also draw to a bygone era that was classified by its stylistic arrangement of sounds at the time. Modern keyboard euphoria (Hawkwind) emphatically states the space-rock genre intent. Percussion is a major driving factor accompanying alongside a very active guitar make-up.

Almost typical of space-prog-rock, tracks are elongated so as to travel you to another place while only remaining seated in your favourite observation post. Coming to the end of any of the 9 tracks is akin to arriving at your physical travel destination of a long distance trek as if it were only a few minutes.

Walking On Clouds manifests in two sections, originally developed by Daniel, that means you can't really say that the music is completely improvised. Backed by a solid rhythm branch this is smooth, cheerful, featuring nice inspired guitar interplay, partially enriched with spacey patterns as well as chirping synths. Not quite a spectacular album - as I'm familiar with the complete studio discography - but surely something to dig. 'Organic Earthly Flotation' again proves their ambitious approach to update the sound with every entirely new production.

Side A's title track sees the band mired in a brooding snarling swampy sound, heavy and driving as if they're marooned on the surface of a mucky alien world. The early sections of the piece have a serious dark groove to them, beautiful subtle tempo changes back and forth thanks to some spontaneous drum-fills and punchy unrelenting bass. The usual OSC synths take more of a back-seat to the twin guitarists, who help give the piece a driving and confident slow-burn. The second half turns into one of the dustiest and most bluesy pieces from the band to date, a searing near-boogie that kicks up so much dirt, it's interesting to hear them with their feet on the ground for a change! A welcome diversion from all their usual outer space adventures.

The flip-side aims for the stars again, and `Ear Meat' initially starts like many Oresund pieces, glistening and ethereal chiming guitars drenched in reverb and delay, shimmering synth pulses and tendril-like bass that creates a floating deep space cocoon for the listener. But things rapidly take a dangerously psychedelic turn once the band surprisingly incorporate whispered treated poetry. We emerge on the other side to a sonically violating electronic passage that reminds of similar sections of the Ozric Tentacles' `Strangeitude' album, then plodding hypnotic bass and a black hole of whirling synths take the OSC closer than ever to a serrated and unnerving Hawkwind edge. Completely disorientating and experimental, it's another immense colourful vision with a hint of danger that the band does so well.

You can safely pick up any Oresund Space Collective release and know you're going to get some quality space rock, and `Phaze Your Fears' is no exception. The title track presents them at their more earthy and grounded best, the second side their most wildly inventive, ambitious and challenging trip so far. It's perfect for new listeners and even more satisfying for established followers, and it's even better value now that it's available in a double CD set - two sublime space albums, what more could be ask for?

Four stars.